CR YP TO GRA MME. 



67 



Linn£eus named it at one time Osmunda and at another time Pteris crispa. 

 The Mountain Parsley Fern is essentially a granite-loving — or, at any rate, 

 a stone-loving^ — plant, sometimes entirely covering either rocks or walls of 

 old ruins, as is the case in Luxemburg, on the Schainschldss, near Rambrach. 

 In its British wilds it is found growing among loose stones or in crevices of 

 rocks, and grand masses of it have from time to time been gathered in an 

 old quarry in Perthshire, as also in Wales, on Cader Idris, in Merionethshire, 

 and on Snowdon, in Carnarvonshire. Mr. E. J. Lowe, in his excellent work, 

 " Our Native Ferns," vol. i., p. 58, says that when seen in all the luxuriance 

 of wildness, growing amongst the shapeless masses of a profusion of loose 

 stones on the sides of a mountain, it is not likely to be readily forgotten. His 

 description of this really charming little plant in its wild habitats is so vivid 

 that we cannot do better than reproduce the most interesting portion of it : 

 " When the Allosorus crispus,^^ says Mr. Lowe, " grows luxuriantly, the 

 mountain- sides that are taken possession of by it resemble at a distance 

 verdant meadows ; and it is only on a near approach that this vivid green 

 resolves itself into the many-fronded plants of the Rock-Brakes, In the 

 English Lakes the mountain- sides of Lothrigg Fell and Fairfield are instances 

 of this ; and the former, being easily reached from Ambleside, will well repay 

 the tourist making its steep but not lengthy ascent. Lothrigg Fell is soon 

 reached from the principal inns of Ambleside, the ascent being made on the 

 Windermere side, not far from the lovely -situated church of Brathay. Passing 

 through a steep field of Allosorus crispus, the summit is gained, and on the 

 one side there is the Lily Tarn, spoken of by Wordsworth, backed in the 

 distance by HelveUyn, Fairfield, and Langdale Pike ; whilst on the other, 

 overlooking the head of the lake, there is a magnificent and never-to-be- 

 forgotten view down Windermere, especially from the stone-piled erection left 

 by the Ordnance Survey. Here the artist has a vast scope for his' pencil, 

 whilst the poet fails m words expressive enough in his endeavour to describe 

 what he sees before him ; painting in the language of inspu^ation, or delineating 

 on canvas such scenes as these, are indeed tasks of no ordinary kind, and 

 each must feel dissatisfied with his labours when he sees they fall short of 

 the reality." 



In Scotland C. crispa is widely spread, being found in almost every 

 county. In Lancashire it is plentiful on the moor behind the town of 



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